TROOP PRAYER THREAD 11: The Holiday Vigil

Here's wishing all Prayer Warriors and our beloved troops and all standing with them a belated yet very sincere Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I'm echoing many when I say we have so very much to be thankful for. High on my list are our magnificent countrymen who stood in lines throughout the nation and voted for the more difficult and rewarding path of Liberation and Morality. High on my list are the precious young men and women who have "placed themselves between their loved homes and the war's desolation" by serving in our armed forces and in our intelligence services and in the contract personnel capacities. High on my list are our allies from many nations who stand with us. High on my list are the Swift Boat Vets and all our veterans who have given their all for this nation in times past. Among them are so many of our own FReeper vets. You know who you are. Thanks. Highest on my list is the Heavenly Father we all share, for He heard our prayers and yearning thoughts in recent days, and He let His finger write in a way that continues our solid opportunities to work with Him to bring about more liberation, security, and freedom in this nation and world.

There are many challenges ahead. The amazing thing about success, is that it surely brings more to us to overcome. We have won a great Victory, but in order to seal that Victory, we must remain vigilant. The work has only begun. It is heartening, however, to know that there are so very many in this nation of like mind, and that we are no longer fully held sway by the Worm-Tongue lispings of the Main Stream Media.

The focus of this thread is all about supporting our troops and those who stand with them at home and abroad spiritually. We have stood together since the inception of the Iraqi invasion. We come together to place before our community the names of those serving, for whom we want prayers. We scan news articles and like to share them as our Prayer Warrior Field trips. Sometimes they are very serious, and sometimes they are funny, but by God's grace, they are always uplifting or a trumpet call for us to roll up our sleeves to work in our own prayer closets.

This particular thread starts during the Holiest of the seasons on the Judeo/Christian calendar. I invite and encourage all to take pauses during the hustle and bustle of shopping and parties and the great busy-ness of the season. Let those pauses, whether you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in line to pay for some holiday gifts, be dedicated to all our troops who are making the joyful madness of the season possible. While many of the prayers seen on this thread are of a decidedly Christian nature, we do state that we have great respect and reverance for our brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith and are welcome to post their devotions for our troops here if they so desire.

Many many deep felt thanks to all our prayer warriors everywhere, and may your vigil for our troops during this holiday season and on into the New Year of 2005 be very blessed.

As always, special thanks go to amom, who is our prayer list Keeper. The updated list can be found below. If you have corrections or wish to be placed on or off our ping list contact either TEXOKIE or amom. The ping list tends to be relatively low volume because of our understanding that the real heavy lifting is done in our own individual prayer closets and other worship activities. We use this thread as a place to gather and to communicate and support one another as we pursue our like-minded goals to hold vigil for our troops and those who stand with them, including their families.

We are grateful to God that for those who have been injured or taken back Home, He has dispatched angels to their care.

Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me remember
Somewhere out there
A man died for me today
--As long as there be war
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?"

Taken from the book, "A Man Called Intrepid" by William Stevenson about William Stephenson, the head of British intelligence services prior to and during WWII. He wrote this at the very beginnings of the Battle of Britain and shared it with Eleanor Roosevelt.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

AMERICA, WE LOVE YOU!
AMERICA, WE LOVE YOU!
AMERICA, WE LOVE YOU!
AND OUR LOVE IS GREAT ENOUGH TO HOLD YOU ETERNALLY VICTORIOUS IN THE LIGHT!

MEMORIAL DAY PRAYER

Merciful Father in Heaven,

We are happily gathered together before you on this Memorial Day weekend. We are enjoying the barbecues, the picnics, the lake activities, the parades, and all the kicked-back-and-relaxed minor joys of a few days off. We are grateful for this time off, with the time to recharge our batteries. But most of all we are supremely grateful for the whole reason of the day we celebrate: our magnificent troops who have given all so that we are enabled to go to the barbecues, picnics, lakes, and parades in peace and freedom.

We are mindful that in recent days the news has informed us that there is a new offensive operation taking place against the resurgents in Iraq. We are mindful of the rumors that one of the biggest enemies there has been wounded or killed. We are witnesses to the infamy and hatred of America evidenced in our main stream press in recent false reports about disrespect shown to the faith of prisoners in Gitmo. Father, we are before you with bowed heads and we petition you to take command of that entire situation in Iraq! Shatter that opposition to the consolidation of freedom in Iraq! Take command of those evil forces in Afghanistan where too many people chose to lose control by rioting in the streets thereby losing some lives! Shatter that hatred and opposition to the good image and effectiveness in the world of America and her President and leaders by the mainstream press and too many in the entertainment circles. Shatter the evil forces behind those in positions of power who also have disdain for the love of God, you, our very Father, which this exemplar nation was ordained to portray. Shatter those forces in all three branches of our government who disdain the sacred document which you gave to us in our US Constitution!

Father, reach into the hearts of all our fellow countrymen, and those who appreciate the goodness of this nation throughout the world. Let there be a great outcry from all our hearts united that this nation shall not go down under the weight and burden of the ones who have taken on the role of the Accuser of the Brethren, those who would accuse this nation and her people day and night. Guide our people and shatter the bonds of ignorance and the Night! Shatter all which prevents us from seeing your own Vision for this nation!

We ask that you will guide and lift up our President and all who surround him. We ask for a special favor, that whenever he bows his head in prayer, there is an extraordinary ability for him to hear your Voice and the Voice of our Savior. Let him be guided from all error. If there are areas of pride which prevent him from seeing an error, let those areas of pride be broken by the action of the Holy Spirit! Let the Holy Spirit comfort him and instruct him on all issues before him.

Father, we ask that you will guide each and every one of our leaders in the same way. If there are those among our leaders who choose, despite all your efforts to reach them, to persist in their pride and error, render them ineffective! Let all efforts to destroy this nation under God and the Rule of Law be confounded and confuted! Let this nation breath new air, scented with the Holy incense of Freedom! Let this air waft across the entire earth and let the fires of Liberty spread from nation to nation!

Father, we ask that you will set all captives to the darkness free! Set free our children and youth who face the daily burden of having their innocence stripped from them by unseemly images in the airwaves, by schoolyard bullies and drug pushers, by those who might abuse them in any way, and by those who would mislead them about your own Divine Laws and Commandments.

Father, we are so very grateful that you gave us this nation. We are infinitely grateful for the magnificent warriors you have given us who have defended us over the years. There are those among our particular circle of prayer warriors for whom every day is Memorial Day. We have some among us who are daily ever mindful of the sacrifices which have been given in all our behalf. There are too many across this nation and the nations of our allies for whom a precious loved one in one of the wars fought where Freedom had to be defended, gave all and has left an unfillable hole. Father, bless these souls who mourn the loss of a hero who died young. Bless the precious souls who were wounded or lost limbs in the fight. Bless the precious souls who have had to wrestle with the mental, emotional, and spiritual scars which war inflicts. Heal them!

Surround this day each and every one of our troops and our allies who are in harm's way. Let our prayers be joined together into a mighty weapon of light for the clearing of the way for this new offensive! Clear the way for our marines! Clear the way for our army! Clear the way for our pilots and air support personnel! Clear the way for our navy and coast guard! Clear the way against all who would violate the sacred soil of our nation, especially those who would breach our borders with evil intent! During this period of time when for some reason our borders are not as strongly defended as some think prudent, we rely on you and your Holy angels to serve as our border patrol! Clear the way before those border patrol agents who are being overwhelmed! Strengthen them and protect them as they go about their duties! Let there be towers of Light constructed by our prayers and your Might and Perfection all across the borders of the four corners of this nation! Guide, guard, direct, and protect all our law enforcement bodies throughout this nation and the civilized world!

Please help us to resolve on this special day to renew our own vigil for our nation and her youth who through the years paid the greatest price and those who yet are willing to do so. Help us to resolve to increase our willingness to incline our ear to you so that we may hear if there is a prayer or a task which must be said or done in your Name to increase your glory in the world. We petition you for your blessed perfect divine Will to be done in all things, great and small. Above all, our blessed Father, on this special weekend, we join together and ask you to please Bless America!

Amen

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